Published: Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 25, 2013 at 12:46 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A horrific 12-car crash at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday injured at least 28 fans, including at least two critically, when the front of a race car broke away and an engine, tire and other debris flew into and over a safety fence and into the grandstands.

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Fourteen fans were taken to three area hospitals, Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said at a 7 p.m. news conference. Fourteen other fans were treated at the Speedway's Infield Care Center, Chitwood said.

"There was carnage and debris and people running everywhere," said Larry Spencer, whose 15-year-old brother Derrick's face was cut by a piece of flying debris. "It was a crazy scene."

Spencer said he took his brother to the hospital, where he received three stitches, because there were "a lot of people in our section that were certainly in a lot worse shape."

It was unclear how many patients, like the Spencers, might have driven themselves or family members to hospitals. After the crash, rescue workers were seen in at least three sections of the stands.

At Halifax Health Medical Center, seven patients were taken to the emergency room in Daytona Beach, two of those — an adult and a minor — with critical injuries, said hospital spokesman Byron Cogdell. Six patients were taken to the medical center's hospital in Port Orange. All of the Halifax patients were listed in stable condition, Cogdell said.

Another patient was taken to Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, said spokeswoman Lindsay Rew. That patient's condition was not available.

"First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with our race fans," Chitwood said during the news conference after the crash.

The crash happened just as the cars were roaring toward the start-finish line of the Nationwide DRIVE4COPD 300. The car of Kyle Larson broke apart after crashing hard into the wall. The NASCAR wire service said the front suspension and engine wound up on a walkway at the bottom of the stands, where it was seen in flames. Smoke poured into the sky above the track and ambulances rushed to the scene.

The crash disrupted the routine after the race's end. Speedway and NASCAR officials were closeted in offices in the media center and drivers gave no interviews that are typical after a race.

All drivers involved in the crash were evaluated and released from the infield care center as well, said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president for racing operations.

The Speedway is repairing the fencing "and will be ready to go racing" for Sunday's Daytona 500, Chitwood said.

Kevin Meister, 22, said he couldn't believe the car went airborne or what happened afterward.

"The engine, oh my gosh, that thing just came right through," said Meister, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He said before everyone was made to exit, he was able to get a look at some of the fans who'd suffered injuries.

"I saw an older gentleman clutching his chest like he was having heart problems. I saw a younger gentleman who was ghostly white and his feet were starting to turn blue," Meister said. "You could definitely see that some people were injured."

For Meister, who was seated in the Sprint Tower, the crash brought back eerie memories of seeing the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt.

"It really did (take me back)," Meister said. "It was the last lap. It was Turn 4. You could totally see it happening all over again."

Bystander Paul Ciaravino said the crash happened with "awesome force, obviously, to go through the stands like that."

"The flames were huge," Ciaravino said. "It hit the ground and flew off into the stands — it was loud. Extremely loud."

The Spencer brothers, from Nanticoke, Pa., were in the H section of the Campbell chairs, Spencer said. He estimated they were 10 to 15 feet from where the engine hit the fence, about five rows up from the track.

Spencer said he's attended 40 races over the years across the country and had "absolutely never seen anything of this magnitude with parts coming into the stands."

When Larson's car hit the wall, "it was almost like an explosion," Spencer said. "There was white debris flying into the stands."

Spencer said a tire rim with a piece of front end flew over them, while a tire flew into another section.

A YouTube video posted by a fan showed the tire sitting on a section of seats and fans frantically waving for Speedway employees to come to their area, where a fan could be seen removing his shirt to lay it across a victim.

After the crash, dozens of safety workers rushed into the stands and carried people out on stretchers to a line of waiting ambulances.

Chitwood and O'Donnell said the damaged catch-fence is being repaired. Chitwood said fans should be able to return to their seats in the grandstands.

"We had our safety protocols in place," Chitwood said. "Our security maintained a buffer that separates the fans from the fencing area."

The last time a fan was injured during a crash at the Speedway was July 2003, when a hood flew off and hit a woman, who was taken to the hospital.

After another horrifying crash in a truck race in February 2000, the Speedway updated and strengthened sections of its protective crash fence, according to News-Journal archives. Geoffrey Bodine's truck, traveling at about 185 mph, jumped into a chain link fence protecting the main grandstands.

The accident demolished Bodine's truck and sheared away more than 150 feet of protective barrier, causing minor injuries to nine fans. At that time, DIS reported that a 9-gauge chain-link fence would stand 10-feet high above the 4-foot tall concrete wall. That 2000 construction reinforced the supporting steel cable running through the fencing, increasing the strands from three to seven.

On Saturday evening, O'Donnell said as with any incidents, "we'll conduct a thorough review and work closely with the tracks as we do with all our events, learn what we can and see what we can apply in the future."

The Associated Press reported Larson's car appeared to hit at a crossover gate — a section that can be opened for people to travel back and forth from the infield to the grandstands. Previous accidents in which drivers hit crossover gates were severe, but the gates were in the wall and not the fence.

Asked if he was concerned with the way the car broke apart, O'Donnell said some of the things that NASCAR has in place for the cars, such as "tethers, that sort of thing, held up, did their job."

"But certainly when you look at this incident, there are some things we can learn and evaluate," he said.

"We'll take the car, we'll do that. We'll evaluate the fencing and see if there's anything we can learn from where gates are."

"I've been to a lot of races, and that was bad," said Terry Monroe of Melbourne.

Another bystander, Scott Granko, said: "As soon as it hit, I said, 'Oh my God,' and it disintegrated."

The wreck happened across the track from where another pair of brothers, the Heintz brothers, were looking at classic cars parked in the FanZone.

"I've been to 12 500s, at least as many 400s, and I've never seen anything like that," said Clayton Heintz of Daytona Beach. "It's always in the back of my mind that something like that could happen."